Wheaton Limits Houses By Lot Size

Code Allows 40% Floor Area Ratio For New Residences

formula for determining the size of new residential developments, but not before watering down the measure when developers complained that the new code could prove harmful to existing homes.

Council members added a grandfather clause to the ordinance that exempts existing houses from being limited in square footage to 40 percent of the lot size as the new code requires for new housing.

Developers contended that the FAR limitation would prevent homes bigger than 40 percent from being rebuilt if they were detroyed by fire or some other disaster.

``Many of the homes in Danada never would have been built if there was an FAR,`` said developer Joe Keim, whose company has built most of the residential areas in south Wheaton, including Danada. ``You`re going to destroy this city if you pass this ordinance,`` he said.

Keim predicted that he would lose 1,886 square feet of his Danada house if he ever had to rebuild it and was limited to 40 percent.

Ironically, Wheaton`s floor area ratio formula was created to protect existing neighborhoods from being torn down in favor of larger homes, as has occurred in some Du Page communities, city officials said.

Under the approved ordinance, after Monday a home under construction on a 10,000 square foot lot in Wheaton can contain no more than 4,000 square feet of livable space.

Developers also objected that the city`s definition of ``livable space``

includes attics, basements, garages, covered patios and raised decks.

The council kept the basic formula intact but qualified what kinds of attics, garages and basements will be considered in the formula. Attics that have attached staircases, garage space exceeding 500 square feet and a basement more than 3 1/2 feet above grade will be added to a home`s total square footage.

``This particular ordinance paints with such a broad brush, it can`t possibly meet the objective for which it was designed,`` said Henry Stillwell, a Wheaton resident and Keim`s attorney.

``This is not a developer-city issue,`` Stillwell said, noting that he was speaking as a representative of the Warrenville-based Northern Illinois Home Builders Association. ``What this really addresses is the right of individual property owners.``

Previously, a home`s size was limited by front and sideyard setbacks and a requirement that no more than 33 1/3 percent of the lot be covered by a structure.

Theoretically, someone could have built a two-story home with a basement that contained a total of 9,999 square feet on that same 10,000 square foot lot, according to Bruce Kaniewski, city planner.